Chatterton Family Bible- Heirloom Reunion

I am a sucker for old family bibles.  I have seen several at estate sales and I have purchased them in the hopes of reuniting them with someone who will treasure and preserve them for future generations.  Before I send them to their new home, I take the time to preserve the images and publish them.

I created dozens of images for the two bibles which can be accessed on Google Drive at the following link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1u26iToat5BnvqvhCuI7TbYyWBvIdq8Mm

The two bibles were recently purchased at an estate sale as follows:

Friday/Saturday, March 16/17, 2018, 9am to 3pm

2622 Orleans Dr, Seabrook, Texas  77586

Lake Cove Harbour Subdivision located near TX-146 & Repsdorph Rd

According to the Harris County Texas Appraisal District the 2018 owner of record for this address is:

KNUTSON JULIA
2622 ORLEANS DR
SEABROOK TX 77586-3379

Julia is or was a widow whose maiden name was Chatterton.  She is the daughter of Harley Herschel Chatterton and Laura Helen Park.  Harley was the son of Hiram Lincoln Chatterton and Amanda May Harmon.  Amanda's sister, married a man named John Lawrence Baum. They appear to have had no heirs. The Baum Family Bible contains family record data and photographs for an Ohio family who were the ancestors of John Lawrence Baum.  I will provide more details on the Baum family in a future blog post.

Here are further details on the Chatterton bible:

IMG_2246 and 2247 show the cover of the Chatterton family bible.  The spine is embossed with the initials H.L. Chatterton so it is most likely that Hiram was the Mr. Chatterton that had the bible rebound. The front cover says Old Family Bible. The Bible was published by G. & C. Merriam in 1846.

The Bible measures about 8.5 x 11 x 3 inches and weighs 6 pounds and 3 ounces.

The Chatterton family Bible was rebound by Hiram Lincoln Chatterton
before he died in Peterson, Iowa in 1937. His name is on the spine of the book.

Images were created for the most interesting pages in the bibles starting with IMG_2187 to IMG_2304.  All of the images can be viewed at the following link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1u26iToat5BnvqvhCuI7TbYyWBvIdq8Mm

The Chatterton Bible was published by G. & C. Merriam in 1846.

Several of the images relate to pressings, clippings and papers that were interspersed in the pages of the bibles.  Most of the loose papers are family records in a variety of handwriting styles. Several references to bible verses were also found on loose papers but they were not copied.

The Chatterton Family resided in New York before migrating to Jones County, Iowa before 1870.

IMG_2248 of the Chatterton Bible was found inside the cover page with the following inscription:

Property of Wm. H.H. Chatterton; This bible was left at the Wm. H.H. Chatterton home many years ago by a stranger traveling on foot until he should call for it but the stranger never returned. In due time Mr. Chatterton had the book rebound. This was written by Mrs. H.L. Chatterton [Amanda May Harmon], April 15, 1940. 

Hiram L. Chatterton died 1937 in Peterson, Clay County, Iowa and Mrs. Chatterton died in 1943 also in Peterson.  They were married in O'Brien County, Iowa in 1896. The father of Hiram was Wm. H.H. Chatterton and he migrated from New York to Jones County, Iowa before 1870.

Hiram L. Chatterton Family Record which appears to be in the handwriting of Mrs. H.L. Chatterton (Amanda May Harmon).

Jennie Josephine Chatterton was married to James Neel Cook on September 5, 1922.
The Patriot newspaper was published in Peterson, Iowa

H.L. Chatterton at age 15, wrote a series of family records for the Humphrey family in 1876 which were placed inside of the bible.  Several other family records were also inserted in the bible. None of the pre-printed family record pages had any entries.  It appears that the bible was used as the place to archive all of the loose family record pages.

Hilah Edsall Smith (1823-1888) was the mother of Hiram Lincoln Chatterton. Hilah was first married to Joseph Humphrey, Jr. 1814-1849 and they had two daughters, Alice P. Humphrey born 1846 and Josephine Smith Humphrey born 1849. The widowed mother, Hilah E. Smith Humphrey married W.H.H. Chatterton on 9 Sep 1854 in Addison, Vermont. Hiram Chatterton invested considerable effort into recording the family records of the Humphrey family.  Most of the family records feature persons that were related to Hilah Edsall Smith.

This Humphrey Family Record states that it was written by H.L. Chatterton, June 24, 1876 when he was 15 years old. There were several pages that were obviously in the same handwriting, on the same type of paper and with an embossed character in the upper margin which leads one to believe that they were all written in 1876.  Children born after 1876 are omitted.

Ashbel Humphrey Family Record.

SURNAMES: Chatterton, Brown, Richards, Humphrey, Harmon, Cook, Powell, Smith, Allen, Johnson, Leach, Locklin, Taylor, Rawson, King, Byrns, Finegan, Grogan, Goodman, Lombard, Laplant, Pierce, Thornton, Shaw, Welch, Wilson, Hodgeman, and Foote.

In the family tree I created entitled Chatterton and Baum Family Bibles, I attached the images to galleries for the persons. I included more details about the images in the galleries in this family tree. It is a public tree so feel free to attach the images to your tree, if they relate to your family.

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/120092641

The Chatterton family bible has been donated to an archive in Iowa. If you are interested in seeing the Chatterton Family Bible, in person please contact the Clay County Heritage Center as follows:

Clay County Heritage Center, 7 Grand Avenue,
Spencer, Iowa 51301, 712-262-3304
Email: parkermuseum@smunet.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/claycountyheritage/
http://www.parkermuseum.org/clay-county-heritage-center